Two Stoney Acres: Ducklings

Fav Quote

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts, too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin. ~anonymous

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Ducklings - May 14th, 2011

Our momma duck has been sitting on eggs for quite a while. We had almost began to think they weren't going to hatch. On Thursday, May 12th, we noticed that one had hatched but the duckling was dead outside the nest. We worried that the eggs weren't any good. But on Friday, May 13th, in the afternoon, we saw Momma sitting on a squirming nest of babies. We couldn't tell how many there were, but it sure looked like a lot! On Saturday, May 14th, in the morning, Momma decided to take the babies for a walk. I counted and there were around 18 ducklings. There were two eggs still in the next unhatched and one egg had rolled down the bank while the duckling was trying to hatch and didn't make it. So, she must have had 22 eggs total! Later that morning, she took the babies for a walk again. She kept pushing one of the ducklings away. It looked like he couldn't walk very well. Jacob and Jordana scooped him up and put him in a pet taxi. We soon realized that he had just hatched as there was only one unhatched egg left in the next. We warmed the little guy up and got him walking pretty good, but she still wouldn't accept him. We had him in the house - taking turns holding him to keep him warm. He was so cute! Jordana named him Leroy. He was eating but was really small. On Tuesday, May 17th, I found him on his side in the pet taxi, not looking very well. I think he strained himself against the pet taxi door trying to get out. I picked him up and kept petting him, trying to stimulate him to perk back up. But he just kept getting weaker and finally died in my hands. I cried and cried. We loved this little duck and were hoping he'd make it. It just broke my heart. RIP Leroy.

Here is Momma and the ducklings. She is very protective of them! Ask Jesse about when he was near her and she flew into him!

I don't know how one Momma keeps track of so many little ones!

And here is Leroy in Jacob's shirt pocket. He was so sweet and would really interact with us. We miss him!

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Motivation

Don't think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drives into a corner, who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.
Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

In the end, we decide if we're remembered for what happened to us or for what we did with it.
Randy K. Milholland

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work. You don't give up.
Anne Lamont

Inspiration

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time. ~ Anna Freud (1895 - 1982)

A man who as a physical being is always turned toward the outside, thinking that his happiness lies outside him, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within him. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Advice to young women from Nancy and Ann Wilson, of the rock group Heart (as printed in the 09/19/10 Parade magazine):
Nancy: There's a great deal of pressure on young women to portray a hyper-sexualized image.
Ann: And I think they get told that if they do that they're going to be successful. When, in actuality, if they look like pole dancers, all they do is make themselves more disposable. So be true to yourself.